One Step at a Time
by OtakuKatie
Summary: Arthur Kirkland is an overachieving British exchange student. Alfred F. Jones is an underachieving football player. How can they find love?
1. Chapter 1

I stared blearily up at startling blue eyes. There was a hand on my shoulder, gently shaking me awake.

"Dude, you alright? Wake up!"

I focused on the figure above me and was able to make a blonde boy, roughly fourteen, looking down at me with concern on his face.

"Hey, man, wake up! Seriously, you're freaking me out!"

When the boy's lips above me moved, I could tell that he was the source of the irritating American accent that was trying to wake me. I didn't recognize the voice or the face.

"Come on! Wake up!" he started to sound almost frantic, now. Why was he so concerned?

It was then that I noticed the throbbing ache at the back of my head. Bloody hell! What happened? I realized that I was lying on the sidewalk, the hard cement was cold and rough, and my whole body ached.

"W-what happened to me?" I managed to say. It was hard with the dizziness that seemed to be caused by the throbbing pain.

"Oh thank God! You can talk!" the blonde seemed incredibly relieved " I was practicing for the football game and lost control of the ball. You were walking by and it hit you in the back of the head. You blacked out for like, five minutes!"

I sat up slowly, carefully taking stock of my body. There didn't seem to be any damage other than the pain in my head that was making it hard to think. I tried to remember what I had been doing moments earlier…

"I was just on my way to class.. I'm going to be late!"

I attempted to get up, but the world seemed to swirl around me, forcing me to slump back down. The boy was still looking at me intently, clearly trying to decide whether or not he should take me to the infirmary, which he most certainly did _not. _

Again I tried to stand up, and this time I was able to (unsteadily) gain my footing. The boy hovered close by, ready to catch me should I fall. Slowly, I began to walk to class, being careful not to go too quickly lest I pass out. Behind me, the boy quickly followed, presumably to make sure I didn't suddenly drop dead.

I only made it about fifty meters before I fell down, just about passing out. Luckily, the boy was there to catch me. He was fairly strong, probably from being a football player.

"Seriously, dude. You should go see the nurse." With that, he scooped me up into his arms and began to walk to the nurse's office.

I struggled to get down, people were watching, and I didn't even know him! It was undignified, not to mention extremely awkward.

"You know, I don't even know your name." He said, grinning down at me.

"Arthur. Arthur Kirkland." I said with a huff. "Yours?"

"Alfred F. Jones, at your service!" he said with a big grin. Cocky bastard.

Eventually, we reached the nurse. After explaining what had happened, he set me down on the bed and told me that he had to go to class, but he would check on me later. He even asked me what class I had been going to so he could stop by to tell the teacher of my absence and get the necessary work. Really, he seemed like a generally nice boy.


	2. Chapter 2

Hours later, I woke up confused and dizzy. The pain had subsided somewhat, and I was able to slowly drag myself into a sitting position. Barely.

Groggily, I peered around the infirmary to try to gain an understanding of where I was and how I had gotten. The room was lit by three glaringly bright florescent bulbs. Everything around me seemed sterile and precise. After a few moments of muddled thought, I remembered that I was, in fact, in the school infirmary. With another glance around the room, I saw that the nurse was no where in sight, nor were there any other ill students.

Deciding I was ready to go back to class, I quickly stood back up, and then promptly fell back down due to my protesting skull. Gently, I probed the back of my head, searching for the source.

_Yes, just what I thought, a bloody huge bump. This is all that stupid git's fault... _

My thoughts trailed off at the thought of the tall boy. Remembering the way he had carried me all the way here and promised to get my schoolwork, I realized that I hadn't had a chance to properly thank him, yet. Of course, it was the _least _he could do, considering he was the cause of the whole situation. None the less, he did seem truly apologetic of his mistake.

After a few moments of thinking about this 'Alfred' boy, I realized that simply thinking was only making my head throb even more. Minutes later, I fell back to a dead sleep, too exhausted by the pain to even attempt to get back to class.

I awoke to the sound of the end of school bell later in the day. A few minutes later, as I tried to pull myself together to return home, none other than Alfred came bursting through the door. Bloody hell, this boy is an endless source of energy.

"Hey Artie!" the American exuberantly called, even though I was a mere six feet away from his place at the door, "I brought you all of your school work and the notes your teachers had today! How are you feelin'?"

I cringed slightly from his loud voice and fast words, still in the process of recovering from the splitting headache pervading me.

"Thank you very much, Alfred." I said stiffly, "I appreciate your efforts to help me after your mistake with the ball out on the school grounds."

Apparently oblivious to my none-too-subtle criticism of his obvious fault, the boy flashed me a large grin, "No problem, Arthur, it's the least I can do!"

I attempted to keep the scoff I was feeling internally as it was, most certainly, the _least _he could do after what I had endured.

"Yes, well, I must be going. I have much work to do to catch up with my classes, now. Thank you again." I said somewhat hastily, ready to get out of the company of this overly-enthusiastic boy and complete my work.

With great effort, though I tried to hide it from the keen blue eyes carefully watching in case I were to fall again, I managed to gather my things and the papers from Alfred as I made my way to the door. The whole way to the school gates, the tall American followed closely behind, his face still concerned.

As we walked, or rather, _I _walked and he followed, the other boy attempted to make casual conversation. And failed rather spectacularly.

"So.. You're a freshman, right?" he attempted.

"Yes, I am." I replied icily, in no mood to chat.

"That's cool... so am I!"

"I see."

My short responses, however, seemed to have no effect on his insultingly permanent cheerful mood. He just kept going as if I my obviously cold responses were instead warm and inviting.

"It's weird though, I've never seen you around school! I mean, we don't have any classes together, but you'd would've thought that we'd have at least seen each other around..."

"Well, I usually spend most of my time in the library. As I've never seen you in there, I assume _you _spend most of your time out on the football field yourself, yes? That is the one place I tend to avoid most of all."

Alfred laughed, though I failed to see what was funny in my statement.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess that's why we've never seen each other around!" he spoke as if this thought had cleared up some big, life mystery for him.

By that time, we had reached the school gates. I glanced behind myself for a moment to admire the school building. It was a large, expensive charter school in the center of town. The building was large and immaculate, as Duketon Preparatory Academy was one of the most prestigious academies in all of the United States. It was one of the few schools in the area as the surrounding neighborhoods were all large homes that held a vast majority of the wealthiest families in the state.

Due to the exorbitant tuition fees, the school was filled with the sons and daughters of the elite. Most everyone was competitive and studious. Although most students needn't worry about jobs in the future, as most families had very secure businesses filled with economic stability, we all received pressure from parents to excel. Reasons for this pressure varied, though. Some sought to make sure that the heir to their company was well educated and ready for the job ahead while others simply wanted their family name at the top of the boards, to show that their family was better than the rest, and worthy of business.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, Arthur." Alfred said, looking down at me with a smile.

"Yes, goodbye, Alfred." I said, humoring the boy with a small, businesslike smile that I had learned from my father.

As I started to walk away, he called after me.

"Wait, Arthur!" he called. I stopped and turned.

"Just... let me know if you need anything, ok? Here's my number!" He said, handing me a small slip of paper with some numbers scrawled sloppily on it. "Maybe we could, you know, hangout some time?" he asked hopefully.

I shrugged noncommittally, but put the slip of paper in my wallet, anyway. I smilled at the boy once more and gave him a small wave before I set off for home.

**AN: Wow... this has been a long time! I have to be honest, I thought that NO ONE had read this story, so I basically quit! My fanfic stats were all messed up, and I never got any e-mails from people adding this story, so I just got discouraged (too soon, I know) and basically gave up.**

**BUT a few days ago I found out what was screwy with my stats chart and found e-mails about people adding to favorites and watches and there were a LOT more that I expected, so I started writing again, and I'm glad I did! I remembered where I was going with this story, I started planning in January and then finally posted the first chapter in April, then gave up until just yesterday... OTL**

**Oh well! I'm finally on track of doing this story, and I have a lot of really great ideas! Of course, I welcome any suggestions! **

**Thanks so much for reading! **


	3. Chapter 3

As I neared my home, I noticed my neighbor and best friend Kiku by his front gate. Smiling, I called and waved to him. Turning, the small, Japanese boy smiled and waved back.

"Hello, Arthur. How are you? You weren't in our afternoon classes, today. Where were you?" he asked, his dark brown eyes showing some concern.

"Well, some bloody idiot on the football team lost control of his ball. It hit me in the head and I passed out. He took me to the infirmary, but it was so bad I had to spend the whole afternoon there." I replied, still angry over the whole situation.

"Oh, I am very sorry. Do you need help to make up for your school work?" he asked concernedly.

"The git went and got the work for me from my teachers, but would you like to come over to my house to study, in case I have any questions?"

"Of course, it would be nice to study in your house. My father has company over, so it's very noisy in there, now." Kiku said with a small, grateful smile.

I smiled back at my friend before leading him to my rather large house next door. As we entered, I could hear my father loudly arguing with someone on the phone, presumably business matters. Quietly, Kiku and I made our way up to my room.

My room was decorated simply, yet elegantly. Everything was particularly neat, as if no one even lived there. My bed took up a small portion of the room towards the back, but my desk and bookcase took up the vast majority. Books were my passion, so, of course, I had a very large collection in the beautiful cherry-wood bookcase. The wood of my desk was a matching color, complete with a top-of-the-line computer and plenty of work space.

My friend and I sat quietly at the two large, leather office chairs at my desk and spread out our work between us. We didn't speak much, as we never needed to. He was a quiet boy, usually. Born in Japan, he often was uncomfortable speaking much English, so we often settled into moments of comfortable silence. The kind only close friends can create. He had dark hair that was styled into somewhat of a bowl haircut, though it suited him well. Like his hair, his eyes, too were dark. So dark, they often had the appearance of being closed-off and guarded, which was often the case.

Kiku, like me, was rather short, but that was about the only similarity. I was pale and fair-skinned, while his coloring was rather dark. My hair was short and choppy with a light-colored blonde. Also, while his eyes were brown, mine were a deep, clear green, which I had often been told were quite pretty, much to my embarrassment.

After a few hours of quiet work, my friend and I finished our work and decided to go downstairs for a snack. When we entered the kitchen, we found my parents taking a break and having some coffee.

"Hello son, hello Kiku." said my father curtly with a small nod in our direction. I could tell that my father was angry about something at work, his tone was clipped and forced.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland" said Kiku, addressing both of my parents.

"How was your day today, boys?" my mother asked, though it was obvious she wasn't really interested, as she kept checking her BlackBerry.

"Well I spent the whole day in the nurse's office, but other than that it was fine." I said, sarcastically.

"That's great dear!" my mother replied, clearly not even hearing what I had said. I snorted lightly, I was used to it.

"Er.. I think I should be going home. Goodbye, Arthur. Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Kirkland." said Kiku, clearly uncomfortable with my parents' usual businesslike demeanor.

I saw him to the door and apologized for my parents rudeness, but he waved it off kindly, saying his parents were much the same, which I knew to be true.

Like most of the parents in the rich neighborhood, my parents cared greatly for appearance and their company. Kirkland and Associates was a very powerful and well-known law firm, owned by the family for three decades. It was so powerful, in fact, the company had recently moved to America from Britain, along with my family, to pursue the more competitive and higher-class law field there. This was difficult for me, but I adjusted quickly. I had to.

My parents expected a lot of me. They demanded for me to be willing to do practically anything for the company that I would one day inherit. I was required to be the perfect son. To make good grades and keep the right appearance so as not to reflect poorly on our family and the business.

Sometimes, I found it hard to remember that most of the things my parents demanded of me were to assure me a stable future with a solid company. Though it was a lot for me to carry on my shoulders, I knew that someday all of my hard work in keeping grades and business-like acquaintances with some of my peers at school would pay off.

They were perfect, my parents. Never stepping out of line and a hair never out of place. It was intimidating, sometimes. Try as I might, I was never as perfect as them, though sometimes I think I was close. I had to be, to be their son.

That night, dinner was quiet and tense. Some case my dad was working on was not going so well, so he was angry and tense. Affected by my father's mood, my mother was unhappy as well. Uncomfortable with the awkward and tense environment, I finished my dinner quickly and fled back to my room where I spent the rest of the night reading before going to bed promptly at nine o'clock, as was my usual schedule.

The next day at school, during my free period, I found myself wandering towards the football field, curious of this Alfred person. Besides, I had nothing better to do. I easily found him from the stands, his golden blonde hair clear amongst the other players. Down on the field, I watched as he ran back and forth, from goal to goal. He seemed very good at intercepting the ball and then snaking between defenders, expertly avoiding tackles and opposition. I found myself noticing how muscular and toned he was with his shirt off. Not only was he very tall, he extremely fit.

Apparently I was watching a little too intently as I didn't even notice when the game ended and Alfred began to make his way over to me in the stands.

"Arthur? What are you doing here?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"Er- well- I had a free hour and came out to... uh... do my homework out here in the sun. The benches by the school were occupied so the benchers were the only place where I could sit and study in peace." I said lamely, having no real excuse for myself why I had come out here.

"Oh, ok, that's cool!" Alfred said, believing my story completely.

I nodded, looking at the American in front of me. I supposed girls would have considered him 'handsome'. His face was strong and chiseled with a square chin and a straight nose. He was tanned with golden hair and striking blue eyes and a perfect smile that he seemed to like to flash often.

"So... I was wondering," he began, "Do you wanna, y'know, hang out, sometime? I mean, not as a DATE or anything, but just like friends or something, you seem pretty cool! I was thinking we could go see a movie tonight?"

"Uhh... Well... I'm busy tonight, with homework, you know? I really can't.. maybe some other time?" I lied. I really had no interest in being _seen _with this boy, he seemed disorganized and messy. Not someone I would want to spend time with.

"Ok, I understand. Maybe some other time!" He said cheerily, though I thought I saw some glimmer of disappointment in his sky-colored eyes.

"Sure," I said "Well I really must be going, now. Goodbye, Alfred."

"Bye, Artie!" I cringed as he called me that ridiculous nickname, _no one _called me that.

Shrugging off my disdain for the American's idiocy, I walked briskly to class, trying to push the thought of Alfred out of my mind, though I had no idea why _he _kept coming to mind, anyway.

**AN: Woo! Chapter 3! I got a lot of notifications for the last one, so I'm really glad I came back! As it's summer, now, I have a LOT of free time to write, I usually just sit around at home most of the time and play on the computer, so at least this story gives me something to do! :) Thank you all for reading! Reviews and suggestions are always welcomed and appreciated! **


	4. Chapter 4

When the lunch bell rang, I walked briskly to the cafeteria and sat down at my usual table that was already partially filled with some of my friends. As we ate, my friends and I began to discuss plans for the weekend.

"Well I heard there's that new action movie playing tonight at the theater in town, would you guys like to come?" asked Toris, the shy, Lithuanian boy with dark, shaggy hair.

While my friends talked about the movies, I found myself searching the cafeteria for Alfred. I spotted him halfway across, sitting at a table with a few of his friends. There was Matthew, an extremely quiet boy who looked strikingly like Alfred, except for a single curl that stuck out from his hair, Elizabeta, a girl from Hungary who was very smart, though somewhat dangerous at times, and Ivan, the aggressive and frightening Russian with platinum hair and pale eyes. To me, they seemed an odd bunch, but they definitely seemed to enjoy each others' company.

"Arthur? Arthur! Are you coming to the movie or not?" my friend Roderich said from his spot next to me, drawing me back to the conversation. He was Austrian with glasses and a mole. He, too, had a single curl sticking up from his head of dark brown hair.

"What? Oh, yes, the movie," I said, blushing slightly, realizing that I had been looking at _that boy _again, "Yes, of course I'll come. It's sounds great."

"Great, what time should we meet up tonight?" asked Heracles, my sleepy Grecian friend with sloppy brown hair.

We agreed on when and where to meet just as the bell rang. Quickly, I gathered up my things and left for class to secure my usual seat at the front. The rest of the day passed uneventfully. After school, Kiku and I left together and walked home.

In my room, I changed quickly into some jeans and a nice shirt, stopping to glance in the mirror at my choppy blonde hair and green eyes beneath unfortunately big eyebrows. I noted how scrawny I looked, not even enough muscle to fill in a simple t-shirt. I shrugged the thought off and read for a few minutes to pass the time before Kiku and I had set to meet out front of our houses to leave for the theater together.

As the theater wasn't far from my house, Kiku and I simply walked over there. Along the way, we chatted idly of classes and fellow students, though we didn't gossip.

When we arrived, we easily found Toris, Heracles, and Roderich in front of the theater, along with Francis. He was French with long, silky hair. Though we had been what people would call 'friends' since we were young children, we were often rivals, and sometimes I felt that I truly despised the boy as he constantly tried to beat me and made fun of my bushy eyebrows relentlessly.

"Oh look, if it isn't little _angleterre _and his eyebrows!" Francis jested with a large smirk on his face.

"Shut it, frog." I said with a smirk just as large.

"Boys, not today. Can we _please _just watch a movie without you two getting into another lover's spat." Roderich said moodily.

As if on cue, Francis and I both stuck our tongues out at the finicky Austrian at the same time, sending us all into peals of laughter.

The six of us then went into the theater where we bought our tickets and snacks, popcorn, and sodas. Normally I wouldn't eat such things, but I decided a treat on occasion was alright.

When we finally had all of our things, we made our way into the theater, where I noticed a particular boy with a head of golden-blond hair who was munching loudly on his extra-large bucket of popcorn and slurping an enormous soda. None other than Alfred F. Jones.

Toris apparently noticed him, too, as he called over to Alfred like a long lost friend. When the boy turned to look at the group of us standing by the door, he motioned us over excitedly. As we made our way over to the vacant seats near Alfred, Toris explained that they had been friends for quite some time. I followed reluctantly, unsure of how Alfred would react to the fact that I was at the movies when I had told him earlier that I was too busy to go with him.

"Arthur! What's up? I thought you said you were busy!" he said as I took the last available seat in the row, which happened to be right next to the energetic boy himself.

"Ur- well- I finished earlier than expected, so Kiku dragged me down here with him..." I explained lamely.

"Oh! Cool! Well, you're here now, so that rocks!" he said excitedly.

I faked a smile at him and turned to look at the previews that were currently playing, but the boy kept yapping in my ear, trying to draw me back into conversation.

"The FUNNIEST thing happened to me in English today! Wanna hear about it?" the strange boy continued.

"Hmm..." I murmured, disinterestedly.

"So, I was sitting there zoning out kinda, thinking about stuff, and then Mr. Alexander... You know that old, fat bald one?... Yeah, so he calls on me, and then asks me some stupid question... about Oedipus and his mom and some other kind of junk... So I answer him, and I guess I said 'ain't' instead of aren't or something, because all of a sudden he freaking _flips out_!"

By this point, I am about to go insane from this boy's constant jabbering in my ear, but then I start to listen...

"First, his face turns bright red, and he starts _screaming _at me! Then, his eyes start bulging out of his head and I was beginning to think he was about to choke! But, what else could I but just sit there taking all of this yelling and screaming from him while I'm thinking the whole time he's going to explode, and the whole time the _entire_ class is just sitting there silently and all of them seemed _really_ scared. You know that girl, Christy? She looked like she was about to _cry_, and she wasn't even the one being chewed out!"

Despite myself, I listened intently to his story. I even started to chuckle.

"Personally, I just sat there and tried not to laugh. But this whole time he's talking about my 'disregard for the English language' and how 'today's teenagers are _completely_ unaware of today's socioeconomic problems', which had absolutely _nothing _to do with what we had been talking about originally. Personally, I think the guy is just a complete nutcase, so I didn't take any of what he was saying seriously. But, when he _finally_ lets us out of class, that girl, Christy, comes up to me all freaked out and starts going on about how we should go to the principal and tell him about how she thinks Mr. A's not 'emotionally or mentally stable' and all this other stuff. All this time, I'm _still _trying not to laugh, but I think my face started to turn red, 'cause Christy looks at me with tears in her eyes and starts trying to comfort me because she thinks I was really upset about being yelled at by the old nut. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore so I _burst _out laughing and she looks at me all hurt and punches me in the arm and stalks off, but I just stand there laughing hysterically like an idiot for five minutes!" he finally finished.

To my surprise, I found myself laughing along with him. It must have been the way he was so animated in telling the story, but he was absolutely hilarious.

"Well I won't ever be able to look at Mr. Alexander the same way ever again..." I joked, and Alfred joined me in laughing.

By this time, the movie started. As though through an unspoken agreement, Alfred and I shared our snacks and candy, though I can't really explain why.

When the movie finished, the American and I easily fell into step together as we walked out of the theater, trailing slightly behind our friends.

"Dude, that movie was AWESOME!" the boy gushed, easily impressed with the high-tech visual effects of big budget blockbusters.

"I'll admit the effects were good, but the story-line was lacking..."

"Oh come on! It was so dramatic when that dude sacrificed himself for the girl he loved! Now _that's _a good story-line!" he defended.

"Please, that is the most over-used plot in American theater ever created!" I scoffed.

"No way! It was awesome, just like all other American movies!"

We continued to argue playfully all the way out of the theater, debating British versus American theater, with British clearly the better of the two.

When we finally caught up with the rest of our group, I found that Kiku had decided he was going to spend the night over at Heracles' place, as the Japanese boy's house was currently overrun with his father's business partners. However, this caused a small problem for me.

It's not that I was _afraid _of walking home alone, it was just... inconvenient to walk all the way back there with no one to talk to. Besides, I had always been taught the buddy system as a child.

In a strange moment of insight, far different from his usual clueless self, Alfred volunteered to walk home with me.

"A-are you sure you want to walk all the way to my house just for me? I mean... it's not _that _bad to walk home alone..." I questioned half-heartedly, secretly grateful for his volunteering to accompany me.

"Sure, I don't think it's very far from my house. Besides, that's what a hero would do!" he said enthusiastically.

So, we said our goodbyes to our friends and the American and I began the walk to my home.

As we walked, we discussed books. Despite his disregard, sometimes, for the English language, he was fairly well versed in literature, though he rarely showed it from what I knew of him. I confessed to him my love for faerie tales and unicorns, but, to my surprise, he didn't laugh it off as silly and babyish, he seemed genuinely interested. He talked about how he loves action books about heroes defeating evil doers and mad scientists. He loved comics, too. I found it a nice commonality that we both had things that were somewhat childish that we were still fond of, it was something that we had in common.

Finally, we reached my home.

"Promise we can hang out sometime this weekend?" he asked, hopefully.

I blushed slightly at how eager he seemed to spend time with me, I usually didn't get that from people. I nodded and promised to call him tomorrow morning, which seemed to satisfy. We said goodbye at the door, and I watched as he walked away towards his home, smiling at how he always walked with his head upright and proud, like a true hero.

**AN: This chapter, for some reason, took a long time to get started... Oh well, I procrastinated some, so that didn't help... **

**ANYWAY, I just wanted to say not to expect any real romance at all until much later in the story, I want the love to blossom from a friendship (cheesy statement is cheesy), so I need to build that up first.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, as per my promise, I decided to call Alfred. The boy answered after just one ring, so I assumed he had been waiting by the phone for my call.

"_Arthur! Hey! I was wondering when you were going to call!_"he said loudly into the phone, causing me to cringe and hold the handset farther from my ear.

"It's only nine o'clock you git, it's not like I've kept you waiting forever. Besides, how did you know it was I calling? You could have very well scared someone answering like that." I said with a roll of my eyes, though he couldn't see.

"_It's called caller ID, dude!_" he said with a snort, "_But I'm glad you called, I was hoping we could hang out today!_"

"Well, I am free, so I don't see why not. What were you planning?"

"_I was thinking that maybe you could come over and we could hang at my place... I asked and my parents said that it was cool if you would stay for dinner!_" he said excitedly.

"That sounds great! When do you want me to come over? And what's your address?" despite myself, I found that I was getting slightly excited about the prospect of spending some time with the energetic boy.

"_I have football practice 'til eleven today, so can you come over about noon?_"

"Fantastic, I'll be over then!" I agreed.

Alfred gave me his address, then said goodbye and hung up when his mom called to tell him to come down as they had to leave to get him to practice one time.

When I hung up, I found that I had a silly smile on my face. I truly was excited to spend some time with the boy, despite how strange our meeting had been.

Realizing that I still had three hours before I had to leave, I settled down in my favorite chair and read some of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tales, my favorites from when I had been a child. This helped the time pass considerably, and before I knew it, I had to get dressed and ready to leave.

I though jeans and a tee would be fine, until I remembered that his parents had invited me to stay for dinner, so maybe something a little dressier...

After a few moments of anxious thought, I decided to go with something in the middle. I ended up with a collared shirt and nice jeans. Nothing too dressy, but not too casual.

It was then that I realized I was being a little bit ridiculous, so I laughed at myself in the mirror and walked downstairs. I told my parents where I would be and gave them Alfred's address just in case. They didn't seem very concerned, so I left without saying goodbye. Not that they would notice too much.

The walk to Alfred's house fairly short, he only lived a half-mile away, so it took me only about five minutes to get there. When I arrived, I noticed the house was fairly similar to all the others in the area. The lawn was trim and clean and the house large and elegant, not unlike all the others in the neighborhood, there was only a huge American flag hanging out front to distinguish the house from the others. Though it was an American neighborhood, not many people were as patriotic as the Jones' appeared to be.

I walked quickly up to the large, cherry wood door and knocked lightly. The door opened quickly to Alfred with a huge grin on his face, which instantly spread to me. His good mood was contagious.

"Arthur! Hey! I was wondering when you would show up!" he said, still with that huge grin.

"It's only a minute after noon..." I said, exasperated already.

"Yeah well it felt like forever!" he said, laughing.

"Well then I'm sorry I'm late!" I said, laughing too.

He moved slightly to the side and gestured for me to come in. I did so and took off my shoes, leaving them by the door. The whole time, Alfred was practically bouncing up and down like a puppy. Then, as I stood to face him, he grabbed my arm and pulled me all the way to his bedroom, forcing me to stumble to keep up with him as he was nearly running while laughing the whole way. Finally, he released me as we reached what I assumed to be his bedroom door, causing me to nearly trip. Laughing, he steadied me, smiling at my disgruntled expression before opening the door and leading me inside.

The room was nice. Yes, nice was the first word that came into my mind. It was childish in some ways, but still very boyish and normal. I liked it. Along the walls, there were posters of superheroes and an occasional Disney movie. However, there were still some rock bands and monster trucks thrown into the mix. Along with posters of football players from teams he seemed to like. On a chair in the corner was his gear, along with the bomber jacket he had been wearing the other day, was his football gear that looked as if it had just been tossed in a pile onto the chair when he returned from practice. It was a nice combination, a very 'Alfred' combination. The only thing that I didn't like was the amount of American flag items scattered around. Other than that, I thought it was... nice.

I must have stood there staring for a few moments, as he started to chuckle behind me, as if it was some joke.

"Enjoying the view?" he asked with a laugh.

"Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah, it's very... you!" I said with a slight blush. There he goes, making me blush again.

I moved farther into the room and took a seat at the desk that was cluttered with action figures while he stretched out on the bed (that was complete with an American flag duvet, by the way).

For a few minutes, we just sat there, not sure what to say. Absentmindedly, I picked up a Captain America figurine sitting on Alfred's desk and began to play with it.

"You really like this comic book stuff, huh?" I asked nonchalantly, smiling up at Alfred.

"Yeah... I have for a while. They're always cool to look at for me." he said, rubbing his neck. "I know a lot of people would find it weird... a fourteen year old who still reads those things and collects action figures, but I just like 'em, I guess..."

I could tell he was waiting for me to say something to make fun of him for a somewhat childish collection and interest, but I found it actually kind of... charming.

"I don't think it's weird. We all have things that are somewhat childish." I said "Personally, I still like..." here I paused, unsure if he would laugh at me. But, he just looked back at me with interested blue eyes, so I doubted he would judge me like that.

"I still like... unicorns." I admitted, ducking my head sheepishly and blushing again, expecting to hear him laugh at me.

However, when the laughter didn't come up, I looked up to see him smiling at me, barely holding back laughter.

"Why are you smiling at me like that you git?" I huffed, my face heating up to bright red in a combination of embarrassment and anger.

"It-it's just that... it suits you, y'know? Unicorns totally seem like something you'd be into!" he said earnestly, blue eyes reflecting the sentiment. "It's... kinda cool!"

I blushed, yet again.

"Well, don't go telling anyone about it. Most people wouldn't think it too 'cool'." I huffed, turning my head away to look out the window while Alfred laughed quietly.

"It's ok Artie, I won't tell anyone!" he said happily, completely ignoring my poisonous glare at him using _that _name again. "So I was wondering, you wanna read some of my comic books? I have some really cool ones that I think you'd like!" Alfred asked hopefully.

"I'd like that." I said after a moment, giving him a smile.

"Great!" He said energetically, jumping up instantly and heading to the bookshelf in the corner of the room that I hadn't noticed before. When I took a real look at it, though, I saw it was mostly crammed with comic books (possibly hundreds of the things). However, there were some actual books shoved in there, too.

Walking over to take a closer look, I saw that he actually had a lot of classic literature. Poe, Twain, King, Orwell, and Steinbeck, to name a few. Mostly American authors, but still very respectable. I tried not to let on my surprise, afraid that he would be offended by my shock, but I never imagined he would have books like these. For a few minutes, we stood there next to each other and looked through his collection. He picked out a few of 'the best' comics he had, and I just admired his nice collection of literature. When he had a few picked out for me, we went and sat on his bed, cross-legged and facing each other as he laid out and explained the comics.

"Ok, this one is a CLASSIC, this one is new, but it's really good, and this one is just my absolute favorite." he pointed out the few books, of course picking out Captain America as his favorite.

I nodded as I listened, enjoying how animated he was to talk about his favorite things.

I selected the one that he had called a 'classic', feeling the need to start with the most original and work my way forward. Alfred contented himself to reading his Captain America, and we soon settled into a comfortable silence, enjoying the comic books.

After what was probably a few hours, there was a knock on his door. Alfred and I both looked up startled, we had eventually ended up lying side-by-side on our stomachs on his bed, reading quietly.

"Uh- come in!" Alfred called.

The door opened to reveal who I assumed to be Alfred's mother. She looked exactly like him, with the same bright blue eyes, wonderful smile, and dark blonde hair, only she looked a lot cleaner and put-together, whereas Alfred usually looked somewhat dirty with smudges on his face and his hair a little messed up, but this lady looked perfect.

"Alfred, dinner's ready, would you and your friend like to come down?" she asked, smiling kindly at me. I stood up to properly introduce myself, and she smiled even wider when I held out my hand to shake.

"Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Jones. I'm Arthur, Arthur Kirkland." I introduced myself with a handshake and polite smile.

" Arthur Kirkland? Is your father George Kirkland of Kirkland and Associates?" she asked politely, to which I nodded.

"Yes, that's him."

"Well then that's fantastic. I'm pleased to meet you and hear that my Alfie is meeting some very nice friends. You and Alfred can finish up in here and come down to dinner when you're ready." and with another flash of perfect white teeth, she left.

I turned back to Alfred, and noticed he looked a bit stunned. "What is it, Alfred?" I asked with a puzzled expression.

"Oh, nothing, it's just normally my friends get all flustered in front of my mom. They always think she's too perfect or something..." he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck again.

"Well she is very beautiful, but I'm used to meeting lots of adults from parties my father hosts, so it's nothing unusual to meet older people." I said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Then you're awesome! I always get tongue-tied talking to adults!" he laughed, "Oh well, let's go get some dinner! I'm starving!"

As soon as I nodded my agreement, he grabbed my wrist again and started to run in the direction of what I could only assume was the dining room. We arrived in the dining room panting and red faced, but he just laughed again, and that got me started laughing, too.

"Umm... boys?" Alfred's mom asked.

In the middle of our laughter, we hadn't even realized that her and Mr. Jones were sitting at the table, staring at us. Instantly, we stopped laughing and sat down next to each other, red faced, and holding back laughter.

Dinner was somewhat uncomfortable. Alfred's mom insisted on talking nearly constantly, asking Alfred and I plenty of questions about school and our friends, while his dad simply sat and ate his dinner, completely silent. When dinner was finished, I realized that it was nearly nine o'clock, and my parents would be worried soon.

When I mentioned this to Alfred, he insisted on walking me to the door and giving me a few comics to borrow to read.

"Well I guess I'll see ya later, Artie!" he said with a huge grin.

I smiled back at him, choosing to pointedly ignore of his use of that idiotic name again, but agreed when he asked if we could hang out again, sometime.

"Bye, Alfred." I said with what I could only imagine was a loony grin, but he had a similar grin on his own face.

As I walked home, I thought about the day. It was odd, spending time with this boy that I barely knew, yet. But it was... comfortable to spend time with the boy. Even more comfortable than spending time with Kiku, whom I had considered my best friend, which was odd.

One thing was for sure, I definitely wanted to get to know Alfred F. Jones more.

**AN: I FAIL AT UPLOADING IN A TIMELY MANNER AND I AM SO SORRY. **

**But, for some reason, I had a HUGE writer's block at the beginning of this chapter, so I didn't write anything for a while because I couldn't make it sound right. In the end, I just sat my butt down and wrote and didn't give up and eventually was able to finish this chapter (listening to My Chemical Romance the whole time helped, though, it makes me work better :D). **

**Hopefully, after I finished this chapter that was giving me a lot of grief, I'll be able to get going. It seems to be taking forever, but it'll pick up soon, I promise! D: **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! :) **


	6. Chapter 6

**Whoops~ Forgot to mention ^^; :**

**Hetalia and its characters are not mine, I just write about 'em~ :)**

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><p>The rest of the weekend passed by uneventfully, the time only passing monotonously with homework and studying for the upcoming midterm exams.<p>

However, the following Monday at lunch _was _interesting. Alfred decided to sit with me and my mates at lunch the next day, which would have been enough entertainment for Francis is it weren't for the fact that Alfred's friends decided to sit with us, as well. This made for a rather crowded table and plenty of uncomfortable chit-chat.

"So, Mathieu," Francis crooned to the quiet boy who was sitting uncomfortable between Francis and the hulking boy, Ivan, "I hear that you are from Canada, Vous parlez français?"

"Um, yes, I-uh speak a little" said the boy, blushing darkly, uncomfortable with Francis' questions.

"Oi, Francis, leave the boy alone you frog!" I said harshly to Francis, not wanting to scared off Alfred's friends with my own.

Alfred beside me was glaring at Francis, I could tell that he was clearly protective of his shy friend. However, Francis just glared at the two of us and began conversing with Matthew in French, though the boy seemed to warm up to the gentle words of French, his blush diminishing drastically.

On the far end of the table, Alfred's Hungarian friend, Elizaveta was talking animatedly with Roderich. I caught something about pianos and music, but other than that, the two kept mostly to themselves.

_Interesting _I thought _Roderich usually doesn't get that excited when talking to any of us. _

I shrugged off the thought and continued talking to Alfred. We were discussing the comics that I had finished reading on Sunday, my favorite being an older one that had been a gift to him from a distant relative from Britain. I had especially enjoyed it because it had a deep connection with my homeland, which I missed dearly.

"I knew you would like that one," he said with a nice smile, "I picked out specifically because of you being a Brit, and all!"

"Well it's not _just _because of that," I lied with a roll of my eyes, "The storyline was good and the characters deeper than some of the other American drabble that I've read."

Alfred laughed again. He seemed to find most everything funny, but I didn't mind. His laughter was clear and pleasant to hear. It made me smile whenever I heard it, for some reason.

While talking to Alfred, I happened to look over to the side of the table out of the corner of my eye. There, I saw Heracles and Kiku sitting rather... close. Kiku also had a dark blush on his cheeks and Heracles seemed to be whispering something into his ear.

Frowning lightly, I pondered what _that _meant. From all I'd seen, they weren't that close of friends, but... at the movies Friday night, Kiku had gone home with the Grecian. Odd that I hadn't noticed it then. Although, I had been talking to Alfred...

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Alfred asking me a question. I blinked a few times before I understood what he was saying, but I nodded absentmindedly, as he was talking about some hero, again. He replied cheerfully, pushing the strange thoughts out of his mind.

However, when the lunch bell rang, I watched as the pair walked away together. And.. were they.. holding hands? That couldn't be, could it?

Sighing again, I turned back to Alfred and said goodbye before heading back to class.

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><p>The rest of the day went slowly again. I dutifully paid attention to what my teachers said, taking notes as I was supposed to and all, but it was slow, dreary work. With midterm exams coming up, there was really nothing to do but review, and that was boring and tedious. Even the teachers weren't very interested, either. It was almost painful to see everyone so miserable.<p>

Gratefully, I grabbed my things and left class quickly once the bell rang. To my surprise, I found none other than Alfred waiting for me at the school gates, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He seemed to not have the ability to stand still for more than five seconds at a time.

"Arthur!" he cried out happily, running over to embrace me in a large bearhug.

I sighed at his enthusiasm, blushing slightly as I was crushed in his muscular arms.

"Hello, Alfred." I said, trying desperately to seem calm and keeping a large smile off my face at his warm greeting.

"I was wondering... can I come over to your place? Everyone says you're the smartest kid in school, and I could _really _use some help in studying for the exams that are coming up..." he said, rubbing his neck.

"Well, I'm not concerned with studying too hard for my exams, so I suppose you can come over and I can help you out." I said after a moment of thought, deciding it couldn't hurt.

The boy practically beamed and gave me another hug.

"Thanks a bunch Artie! I owe you one!"

"No need for thanks, yet." I scoffed, "I haven't even done anything, yet!"

"Well yeah... but I really appreciate you agreeing to help me out like that!" he said with another huge smile.

Did he ever stop grinning?

Glancing around, I noticed the Kiku was nowhere to be seen. Usually, we walked home together. Probably busy with Hera-.

I cut off that thought short. No, he was probably doing something else. There was most likely nothing going on between him and Heracles. They were just friends.

"Well come on, we might as well get going." I huffed while grabbing Alfred's arm and leading him off towards my house, even though he had been there once before.

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><p><strong>AN: Woo! More AlfredArthur interaction! **

**And... what is going on between Kiku and Heracles? O.o! (If you didn't notice, I'm a GiriPan shipper :3)**

**Sorry this one was shorter than the others, I wasn't quite sure where to go with it :P**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! :D**


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